Monday morning I took Lucy for one final visit to the cat she was watching. I am so glad to be done chauffering her to that. Grams and Ruby tagged along because after the visit we were going to Hobby Lobby. I needed wrapping paper and it's always fun to stroll the aisles of Hobby Lobby. It is less fun to buy things because the checkout line is always long and slow. After we purchased our things, we went to Chick Fil A. Ruby was a bit disappointed because the play area was closed but her chocolate milk helped soften that blow.
That afternoon I had dr's appointment that made me miss my old primary care doctor- I felt like this new doctor could care less about me. After my appointment I dropped Lucy and Penny off for a sleepover at Geli and Luna's Grandparent's house in Northville. Then when I came back Tyler, Ruby and I headed to Chili's with my parents for a birthday dinner.
We were having a nice time and were about halfway through our food when Tyler got a call from Geli's dad. I had my phone in my purse and knew immediately something was very wrong if they were so desperately trying to get ahold of us. Penny had fallen off a scooter and they thought her right arm might be broken. Our nice dinner was now over. We paid for the bill, got boxes for food and then rushed to meet them at the hospital in Novi. We were 40 minutes away from that hospital and that drive felt long and stressful. I could not believe this was happening again.
Tyler dropped me off at the hospital and then took Grams, Poppy and Ruby home. I felt surprisingly level headed while I was alone getting her checked in and taken back. When we got into the room she kept apologizing. She felt bad about costing us money and about the family she had fallen in front of (she was sure she had traumatized the kids). I felt bad that we had joked about her expensive arm last year. I kept having to tell her that this was just a bad accident and she had nothing to apologize for and we would figure it out. But inside I was dying because we just bought a car and paid for braces and went to Italy and all our extra funds for the year were wiped and I do not know if our finances will be ok. Still I hated that she felt like she had done something bad. Accidents are just that, accidents.
I had been housing hope on the drive there that everyone was exaggerating her injuries but when I got there, I saw that they were not. Her arm definitely did not look right. They didn't make us wait too long for xrays and I as I peeked at the xrays I could see that she had clearly broken one bone in her arm (I later learned it was her radius). I felt relieved a bit because it was just one bone instead of both. I thought maybe this time would be easier.
And honestly it all seemed to flow easier. Tyler came not too long after the xrays. They told us they were waiting to see the results on her wrist and then they would set her bone. Results were fine so they got to setting it. They gave her the ketamine, kicked us out, and got to work. We weren't gone too long before they came back and said it had been successful. They said it seemed to click together. We all felt super good about the whole thing and had fun with the sassy, silly Penny that the Ketamine produced. Some highlights of things she said- I smell mom, it's just a temporary accessory (the pulse monitor on her finger), never again woman (referring to me), you cannot say my lines (when we repeated what she said), take it away servant (referring to me taking away her water), all the other patients are dead, I was the only one they could save (when I told her to quiet down). She also made me count my fingers, she booped me on my nose, made fun of Tyler's bald head, and she called us stupid and then remarked how she had just cussed.
And when the ketamine wore off and she seemed sad again and it was time to go home (about midnight so we had been there about 5 hours). The next day I called and scheduled an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon (for Wednesday) and I was sure that when we went, they would just cast her arm and all would be well. Spoiler alert, it did not go as planned.
Tuesday was Tyler's birthday. He had to be a grown up and work and then after work he went with the boys for a 'Weird Al' Concert in Saginaw so we didn't really get to do any celebrating. He did open up some gifts before he left. Ben had got him a Lego set, Lucy a Lego hotdog keychain, Penny had gotten him some treats and I got him the Extended Edition of all the Lord of the Rings on DVD and some fancy knives for cooking.
Since his birthday is also Grace's birthday, Grace and I celebrated her birthday by going thrift shopping. I love thrifting with Grace. I managed to find a couple tank tops that cover the new garments and a book that I thought Penny might like. After we went thrifting, I treated her to lunch. It was a nice outing after a rough previous night. She allowed me to vent and I got to hear about some crazy things going on with her bro in law.
Later Tuesday, while the boys were at their concert, I took the girls to the library for a craft I had registered them for awhile back. Grams was nice and came to watch Ruby so I could help Penny. Crafts are tricky when you only have one hand. Penny made an acorn keychain and a mushroom shadow box and a nature journal. Lucy made the nature journal as well and a bracelet.
Wednesday morning we went over to the new family in the ward's house (the harrisons). They have chickens and new chicks so that was fun. Then we went inside for snacks, games and a chat. Ruby hit it off with their 5 year old daughter Violet. Violet took her under her wing and they played the whole time. The girls all played Taboo upstairs. I chatted with their mom about homeschooling and family and things. After our hang out it was time for Penny's orthopedic appointment so we headed there feeling optomistic, but it didn't take long for our hopes to get dashed. He took her xrays and immediately determined the bones were not set well. We later found out that the splint the ER doctor had put on her arm had not been done correctly and it never would have held her bones in place- even if they had aligned her radius correctly. He then told us we would need to go to the ER at a children's hospital and try to get it set again. He suggested we go to the hospital in Detroit because the orthopedic doctor who had done her surgery before was on call and he had given her a heads up to expect Penny. Spoiler alert- that doctor was not in fact on call, her resident attendee was.
I debated just going there or going home first but after calling my mom, I decided to just go and get it done with. It was sort of a disaster from the beginning. Finding our way to the ER from the parking garage was complicated. And then they definitely had no heads up that Penny was coming- not just because that doctor wasn't actually there but also, ER and orthopedic doctors do not talk until after xrays determine you need an ortho dr. When we got back they wanted to take xrays which annoyed me because we had just gotten xrays at the orthopedic office. Then a lady came to bill us ($1800) before we had even received any care. That was wild. I was feeling frustrated and overwhelemed and frankly just emotional and was pretty much near tears every time I spoke to someone. It was not my finest day. Poor Penny was not doing well either. She did not want to go through all this again either.
After hours of waiting, they gave her the Ketamine and then the resident attendee attempted to set her bone----and failed. I was furious that they had put Penny through this again for what felt like absolutely no reason. I was not nice to the doctor who came to tell me the news and that she would have to get surgery. Penny was not her fun self (that I had told everyone she would be) after the procedure. This time the ketamine made her sad and angry. She screamed, she yelled, she cried. It was awful. She told me she wanted to go home, it hurt, everything hurt, she was hungry (I later found out she had not eaten lunch before our appt), she was thirsty and that was pretty much all the things she yelled and screamed at me. It was the roughest hours of my life and maybe hers too- except she can't remember them. She even told me her arm hurt like hell and that was shocking because she refuses to even read the word 'hell' in the scriptures. I eventually calmed her down by talking about apps and games she plays (which lets be honest, is really boring conversation). And after ages of trying to get her help for the pain and the hunger, they basically satisfied those needs right before they let us go. They gave her pain meds and then a sandwich and apple juice. Since she hates bread that felt like such the perfect conclusion to a crap day. They did not wheel chair her out and we had to walk up and down steps to get to the car but thankfully we made it with no incidents. Not thankfully I had forgotten to get the parking ticket validated so I after paying then hospital $1800, I also had to give them $5 for parking. But after being there for 6 hours, we were both happy to leave.
Thursday Penny and I needed a distraction from the awfulness of it all so we went with my parents and Ruby to Ikea. Ruby loved sitting on all the chairs and couches and laying in all the beds. She would take off her shoes and try to climb under the covers saying "This is my bed!". She is a fan of Ikea. We had lunch and ice cream there so it was an all around nice outing.
Thursday afternoon Asher came over for a bit. They are such frenamies, At first they fought and then they ran up to her room and had a good time making a mess of all the doll stuff that was up there. I vented to Julie about the week that I had been having and she was nice to listen. I think I was actually the one to talk the most this time.
Friday morning Tyler took Penny to the hospital and everything went smoothly. She got one incision and one rod and now she is back on the path of recovery. She spent most of the dayWhile they were off at the hospital I took Lucy to mow, and then I had to take Ben to a Minute Clinic because his ear was hurting. He had an infection so he got some antibiotics for that. He also sleeping which was a good thing. has waxy ears like me so he gave him some drops for cleaning them out. So much doctor stuff this week. After that we ran a couple of errands and I felt exhausted from life this week.
Friday evening I took Lucy and Ben to the temple. Reggie had needed a ride and since the last time Ben picked Reggie up, he got in an accident, I just couldn't repeat that situation. I know Ben has driven plenty since then with no incidents, but for some reason, it just felt like tempting fate. So I drove them. And anyways, it was nice to be in a peaceful place and it was nice having people check in on us and make sure we were all ok. I think I needed all that.
Saturday Penny had more pain but she didn't whine too much about it- she's pretty tough. She spent most of the day on the couch. That morning I made a chicken salad and chip dip for Tyler and Grace's birthday party that night. Then I ran to Kroger's to pick up some Vitamin D supplements for Penny because apparently she her Vitamin D levels are prety low and that could be a reason for easy bone breaks. Later I went to Costco because we were low on diapers and I regretted it- Costco on a Saturday is pertty peopley. After I got back from that my brain kind of died. I knew that maybe I should make something else or pick up something else for the party but I couldn't make a decision on what. I ended up not getting or making any more food and that ended up being a good decision. It wasn't needed.
Tyler and Grace's birthday party ended up going really well. The Bloomfields, Jones, Townes, and Kellie Davies joined us to celebrate. We ate lots of pickley food, answered some trivia questions about pickles. taste tested 3 different kinds of pickles to determine the best brand and then painted pictures of a pickle. I am not sure Tyler loved any of it but he was good sport. And I didn't feel like I said anything embarrassing so that was good.
